Marinus of Caesarea
The Holy Martyr Marinus the Soldier, at Caesarea in Palestine
Martyr · d. c. 260, at Caesarea in Palestine
Commemorated 7 August — Beheading at Caesarea, kept with Asterius the Senator
Marinus was a soldier of the Roman army at Caesarea in Palestine who, in the reign of Valerian and Gallienus and about the year 260, was about to be promoted to the rank of centurion when a rival for the post denounced him: he was a Christian and would not sacrifice to the emperors, and so by the old law was disqualified. Given three hours by the judge to reconsider, he was taken by Theotecnus, bishop of Caesarea, into the church, where the bishop laid before him the sword at his side and the book of the Gospels, and bade him choose. Marinus took the Gospel, went back, confessed, and was beheaded. His body was taken up and buried by Asterius, a Roman senator who was present, and who was himself put to death for the act. Marinus is one of the few martyrs of the third century whose passion survives in the plain narrative of a contemporary historian rather than in a legendary acta.
The vine-staff of a centurion
The account comes from Eusebius of Caesarea, writing in his own city within two generations of the event, and it is unusually circumstantial. Marinus was a man of good birth and substance and a soldier of long standing at Caesarea Maritima, the Roman capital of Palestine. A vacancy fell for a centurion's post — Eusebius names the vitis, the vine-staff that was a centurion's badge — and Marinus was next in line by seniority.
The denunciation
As he was about to be invested, the man standing next in succession stepped forward and objected. Marinus, he said, could not lawfully hold a Roman command: he was a Christian, and therefore would not sacrifice to the emperors. The judge — Achaeus — put the question directly, and Marinus confessed.
The sword and the Gospel
Here the narrative turns on a scene that has passed into the common stock of Christian memory. The judge granted him three hours for reflection. As he left the court, Theotecnus, the bishop of Caesarea, took him by the hand and led him into the church. He set him before the altar, drew back Marinus' cloak to point to the sword hanging at his side, and at the same time placed in front of him the book of the holy Gospels. He told him to choose between them, freely, which he would have.
Marinus, without hesitation, put out his right hand and took the Gospel. "Hold fast, then," said the bishop, "hold fast to God; and, strengthened by him, obtain what thou hast chosen; go in peace."
Martyrdom
He returned to the tribunal as the herald was calling him. He confessed his faith still more boldly than before, and was led away at once and beheaded. The year is placed at about 260, within the joint reign of Valerian (253–259) and Gallienus (260–268) — that is, in the interval between Valerian's persecution and the peace that Gallienus granted the churches.
Asterius and the burial
Present at the execution was Asterius, a man of senatorial rank, wealthy and of high standing, and a Christian. When it was over he did what no one of his dignity was expected to do: he took off his senatorial robe, spread it on the ground, and in it wrapped the head and body of the martyr; then he lifted the relics onto his own shoulders, carried them himself, and buried them with reverence. The Byzantine synaxarion adds that for this he was sentenced and beheaded in the same year; Eusebius, who tells the burial, does not report the sentence. See Asterius the Senator, commemorated with him on this day.
Feast and commemoration
August 7 (church date; New Calendar civil August 7, Old Calendar civil August 20), within the afterfeast of the Transfiguration and within the Dormition fast (August 1–14). He is commemorated jointly with Asterius the Senator, and the two are inseparable in the Slavonic books. His cult is universal in principle but modest in practice: he has no proper office, and is sung under the common of a martyr.
Hymns
Troparion — Tone 4 (common of a martyr)
Thy martyr Marinus, O Lord, in his contest received an incorruptible crown from Thee, our God; for possessing Thy strength, he cast down the tyrants and shattered the feeble insolence of the demons. By his intercessions save our souls.
Original translation from the Greek
Iconography
Marinus is painted as a soldier-martyr: young or middle-aged, bearded, in the short military tunic and the chlamys, holding the martyr's cross, sometimes with shield and lance. Where his passion is illustrated the subject is either the beheading outside Caesarea or — much the more interesting and much the rarer — the choice in the church, the bishop Theotecnus standing at the altar with the Gospel-book held out in one hand while the other draws back the soldier's cloak from the sword at his hip. He is commonly shown paired with Asterius, the senator in his broad-striped robe stooping to gather up the body. No pre-1900 image identified as this Marinus, as distinct from the several other martyrs of the name, has been located for this collection.
Disputed questions
- The Greek and Slavonic calendars diverge on this day. The Byzantine synaxarion of August 7 keeps Asterius alone — "a martyr and senator, perfected by the sword" — and does not name Marinus; the Slavonic and Russian tradition, followed by the OCA, keeps the pair, "Marinus the soldier and Asterius the senator at Caesarea in Palestine." Since Eusebius binds the two men in a single narrative, the Slavonic pairing is the historically better one, and it is followed here.
- A second commemoration on December 16. The OCA's own notice cross-references Marinus to December 16. The Byzantine December 16 martyr of that name is Marinus of Rome, a young man of senatorial family martyred in the City under Carinus about 283 with a chain of legendary torments; his passion has nothing in common with the Caesarean narrative but the name, and the two are kept distinct here. Whether the cross-reference reflects a genuine double commemoration or an old conflation is left open.
- Not to be confused with Marinus the Elder, martyred at Anazarbus in Cilicia about 304 (October 18), nor with Marinus of Rome above, nor with the several other Marini of the calendar.